Fergal Browne (Fine Gael)

I agree with previous speakers that we should have a debate before the recess, while the elections are still fresh in our minds, on No. 18 of the non-Government motions on the Order Paper which refers to registration for elections. I am aware of a couple who were taken off the register without receiving written notification. They were very unimpressed when they went to vote on election day.

I also ask that the Minister for Education and Science come to the House to explain why his Department left it until the eleventh hour to notify schools of the special needs allocation. It had the information for almost a year, but it left it until the day of the holidays to provide it to principals and schools. This should not be tolerated. One would imagine that the Department of Education and Science would be the smartest Department of all, but it certainly is not in this case.

The issue of Travellers was raised. The main difficulty people have is with so-called commercial traders, who arrive in the summer and take over land. They sell couches, for example, at knock-down prices, take away the buyers' old couches and dump them on the land when they leave, costing the local authority thousands of euro. This should not be tolerated. The Criminal Assets Bureau should have a role in this area.